jeephawk

Hi, I just went through and replaced my rectifier. I went ahead and purchased a new battery while I was at it. I hooked up a voltmeter and Im getting 14.6 volts constantly... no matter what rpm. I let it run a few minutes and shut it down. Checked voltage at battery and it reads 13volts. I stuck my ear down and I can hear the battery kinda making a boiling sound?
Is everything cool and within specs or am I in trouble?
Im afraid to fry this battery as its brand new.
Ground looks good and connectors look fine.
I did a search on correct voltage range for output and I get conflicting numbers. It sounds like I am right at the cutoff point or maybe a little over.
Help..... I really want to ride!!!

smokinjoe73

What you describes sounds within reason to me. Are you sure the battery is fully charged?

jeephawk

The battery came they said 70% charged. I charged it for an hour or so at 2 amps. Like I said I just leary of it overcharging and frying the battery. I want to go on a long road trip this weekend possibly.
I ran across the troubleshoot pdf file from another thread and I thought maybe I can check the grounds and other leads just to make sure. I dunno.

smokinjoe73

I was asking because my belief is that it would charge at a higher rate until fully charged, then taper off. Although I could be wrong about the volts but at least the amps should.

SloBlue

I replaced my r/r a few weeks ago. I get 14.5 at idle and 14.7 @ 5000 rpms. My mechanic told me that was perfect. I have been cranking a bit slow lately with a battery I got new last summer from Batteries +. It's about 11 months old, and I suspect it may be going already. I've got to get it in and check it before the warranty expires at 12 months.

Tweety

There are a few unknowns here... What type R/R and battery? Without knowing, we are guessing... Probably good guesses, but guesses...

A non GEL type battery will make some noise, if you are listening very carefully, it might possibly sound like boiling... Is it a type of battery that you are supposed to fill on first charge, or is it "maintainance free" in that respect?

13V for a charged battery is very good, depending on type, it should end up at 13-13.5V fully charged...

A Mosfet type R/R will keep you dead on a single voltage often 14.6V, unless the battery starts changing state and needing/not needing charge... That's a good thing, not something to worry about... A charging voltage above 14V is decent, as close to 14.5V as possible is perfect... Above 15V or below 13.5V is bad, and means replace the R/R...

Tweety

On an intelligent charger, the voltage might change a little with initial charge, or bulk charge, but not on a bike... The charging system n a bike or car is "dumb"... It keeps constant voltage, feeding the battery the amperage it can absorb...

But yes, the battery absorbs a higher amperage on initial charge, and tapers of on bulk charge... But that's "controlled" in physics by the battery, and he R/R just "bleeds off" the excess on the bike... The reason an intelligent charger boasts that as a feature, is simply because if you do it on the charger, you arent wasting energy trying to force the battery to do something it can't... And it sounds good on paper...

You can feed the battery 5A constant during bulk charge if you want, all it does is overheat the charger and make the battery loose lifetime as you overheat i too... Doesn't change anything vs the charge time or the resulting charge...

jeephawk

In my case, I am running an R1 R/R (Large fin). The battery is one that I had to fill myself. I filled and let it sit as per instructions which puts it at 70% charge. Then I threw a hour or so charge on it with 2 amps.
It sounds as though Im good, just need to put some miles on it.